15条有趣的英语小知识你知道英语中最长的单词是怎么来的吗？你知道单词“Goodbye”的由来是什么吗？你知道“tips”的本意是什么吗？学累了课本上枯燥的英语语法，不如来见识一下英语有趣的一面，还有更多有趣的英语知识等待你的发掘哦！1. Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch procejt at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosnt mttaer waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt?tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter.剑桥大学的研究表明：单词中字母的顺序如何不重要，重要的是第一个和最后一个字母的位置。这是因为大脑在阅读时不会读到所有字母。2. WAS IT A CAR OR A CAT I SAW. WASITACARORACATISAW. This is the only English sentence which even if we read in reverse, itll give?the same sentence.“WAS IT A CAR OR A CAT I SAW”（我看到的是一辆车还是一只猫）这是英语中唯一一句反过来念还是一样的句子。3. Goodbye came from God bye which came from God be with you.英语单词“Goodbye”来自于“God bye”，原意是“上帝与你同在”。4. The sentence The quick brown fox jumps over a lazy dog. uses every letter of the alphabet!“The quick brown fox jumps over a lazy dog.”（这只敏捷的棕色狐狸跳过了一只懒狗）这句话用到了字母表中的所有字母！5. Go, is the shortest complete sentence in the English language.“Go”是英语中最短的完整句子。6. The onion is named after the Latin word unio meaning large pearl.单词“onion”（洋葱）来自于拉丁词“unio”，意思是大珍珠。7. The word Tips is actually an acronym standing for To Insure Prompt Service.单词“tips”（小费）实际上是“To Insure Prompt Service”（保障快捷的服务）的首字母缩写！8. The phrase rule of thumb is derived from and old English law which stated that you couldnt beat your wife with anything wider?than your thumb.词组“rule of thumb”（经验法则），是从一条古老的英国法律中来的，即：不能用超过大拇指粗细的东西打老婆。9. The longest word in the English language is pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconioses!英语中最长的单词是“pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconioses”（硅酸盐沉着病）！10. More people in China speak English than in the United States. 会说英语的中国人比会说英语的美国人还多。11. The word listen contains the same letters as silent.单词“listen”（听）和“silent”（安静的）用到了一样的字母。12. Hoover vacuum cleaners were so popular in the UK that many people now refer to vacuuming as hoovering.胡佛真空吸尘器在英国曾经非常流行，到现在很多人还把“vacuuming”（吸尘）说成“hoovering”（胡佛ing）。13. Stressed is Desserts spelled backwards.“Stressed”（压力）倒过来拼就是“Desserts”（点心）。14. The most used letter in the English alphabet is E, and Q is the least used!英语中使用最多的字母是“E”，用得最少的是“Q”。15. Ernest Vincent Wright wrote a novel, Gadsby, which contains over 50,000 words - none of them with the letter E!作家厄尔尼斯特文森特莱特曾经写过一篇5万字的小说葛士比，里面没有一个字母“E”！想要变得聪明，学外语吧：轻松生活英语阅读SPEAKING two languages rather than just one has obvious practical benefits in an increasingly globalized world. But in recent years, scientists have begun to show that the advantages of bilingualism are even more fundamental than being able to converse with a wider range of people. Being bilingual, it turns out, makes you smarter. It can have a profound effect on your brain, improving cognitive skills not related to language and even shielding against dementia in old age.在这个日益全球化的世界，会说两种语言当然比只会单一语言的人有着明显的实际好处。但近些年来，科学家们的发现开始表明，比起能够跟不同母语的人言语交流，双语还有很多更为重要的优势。事实证明，会说两种语言会让你更聪明。双语机制会对你的大脑有深刻的影响，能提高与语言无关的认知能力，还能预防老年痴呆。This view of bilingualism is remarkably different from the understanding of bilingualism through much of the 20th century. Researchers, educators and policy makers long considered a second language to be an interference, cognitively speaking, that hindered a childs academic and intellectual development.这种双语观点与20世纪以来人们对双语的理解有着显著差异。长期以来，研究者、教育家和决策者都认为第二语言是一种干扰，从认知角度来说，会阻碍儿童的学业和智力的发展。They were not wrong about the interference: there is ample evidence that in a bilinguals brain both language systems are active even when he is using only one language, thus creating situations in which one system obstructs the other. But this interference, researchers are finding out, isnt so much a handicap as a blessing in disguise. It forces the brain to resolve internal conflict, giving the mind a workout that strengthens its cognitive muscles.第二语言的干扰的确存在：有充分的证据显示，双语者只使用其中某一种语言时，他的大脑中的两种语言系统都很活跃，这可能会造成某一种语言系统阻碍另一种的情况。但研究者发现，这种干扰作用却并不是不利因素，反倒会使双语者因祸得福。这种干扰作用强迫大脑去解决内部矛盾，让思维得到更多的锻炼增强认知能力。Bilinguals, for instance, seem to be more adept than monolinguals at solving certain kinds of mental puzzles. In a 2004 study by the psychologists Ellen Bialystok and Michelle Martin-Rhee, bilingual and monolingual preschoolers were asked to sort blue circles and red squares presented on a computer screen into two digital bins one marked with a blue square and the other marked with a red circle.例如，双语者在做益智游戏时就可能表现的单一语言者更熟练。约克大学的心理学家Ellen Bialystok和Michelle Martin-Rhee在2004年进行过一项研究，要求双语和单一语言的学龄前儿童将电脑屏幕上出现的蓝圈和红方块分别放置到是数字箱里：一个箱子上标记着蓝方块，另一个标记着红圈。In the first task, the children had to sort the shapes by color, placing blue circles in the bin marked with the blue square and red squares in the bin marked with the red circle. Both groups did this with comparable ease. Next, the children were asked to sort by shape, which was more challenging because it required placing th